


Dark Roads

by Dopredo



Series: Smoke and Mirrors [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Confusion, Curses, Dark Fantasy, Dark Magic, Domestic Fluff, Endgame Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gay Panic, Magical Accidents, Mild Gore, Mild Language, Minor Character Death, Murder Mystery, Poor Baelfire | Neal Cassidy, Slow Burn, Teen Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29138766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dopredo/pseuds/Dopredo
Summary: "The house was empty when Regina woke up. She could tell immediately – she always knew when Emma was near… she could sense it. It was as though the two women were connected by a physical presence that exploded whenever they were close."When Regina wakes up one morning to find her girlfriend of four years remembers nothing about their relationship, Regina must do everything in her power to remind Emma of the family they once shared.But that’s a tough game to play when fingers start pointing and the truth isn’t all that it seems…
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Henry Mills, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Series: Smoke and Mirrors [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136378
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	1. The Last Thing I Do

**Author's Note:**

> This is part two, however it could be a standalone story if you wish. If there's anything you're confused about relating to p1 just put a note in the comments and I'll do my best to explain!
> 
> Thank you for reading :) xx

She had been called out on a late shift. The almost-full moon was high in the sky, its silver rays casting long shadows along the ground, dancing and glistening in the Autumn puddles like confetti at a graduation. Emma hugged her red leather jacket around her, attempting to absorb any warmth she had maintained since leaving her yellow bug by the side of the road. She wished she had never left… but also had too much pride to turn back now. Someone sent out that call, and she was determined to help them – whoever they were. 

Her boots clonked obtrusively in the silence and the dark rolled in from every angle. She couldn’t see anything but the road ahead of her and the breath that hung about her like pale ghosts. 

A howl made her spin, but then it was silent again. And the silence was worse. The hairs on her neck stood on end. She patted them down quickly, adjusting her silver pendant as she went. It was a silly thing, really – a joke present Regina had bought for her to mark the occasion of their four-year anniversary. The tacky metal had been engraved with a picture of the Evil Queen holding an apple and grinning, until Regina had waved her hand and turned the apple into a turnover. The two of them had laughed about it for weeks, until Henry had caught them at it and served them apple turnovers for desert… 

The thought of Emma’s family sent a rush of warmth back into her body and, for a moment, she felt totally fearless. But then that moment ended. The fear stabbed at her gut like a thorn piercing flesh. Why had she come out here alone? What if she never saw her family again? What if they found her alone and mangled somewhere on the side of the road? How would they cope?

A million thoughts screamed for attention inside of Emma’s head – they were so loud. So loud that she must have missed the sound of rushing footsteps behind her. 

Unless, of course, there never had been any footsteps. 

Suddenly the moon disappeared and Emma couldn't breathe. A wave of nausea overcame her, and then she was drooping – wilting like a flower. The petals dropped off one by one until Emma’s legs collapsed like a push puppet below her, leaving her splayed, dormant on the road. 

A voice sighed in the night and the trees shivered. 

* * *

The house was empty when Regina woke up. She could tell immediately – she always knew when Emma was close… she could sense it. It was as though the two women were connected by a physical presence that exploded whenever they were close. 

Frowning, Regina untucked herself from bed, sliding her feet into a pair of satin navy slippers that were always neatly positioned for the utmost efficiency. As she brushed the tangles out of her hair, she glanced at her phone, expecting to see the usual text from Emma signifying that she’d been called out for an early sheriff job. But, surprisingly, today there was nothing at all. Regina raised an eyebrow and made her way downstairs, assuming that they had reached a point in their relationship that Emma felt comfortable not explaining her every move. 

Regardless, she decided it was best to check. She grabbed her phone from the counter and clicked on the top number in her contacts. 

Straight to voicemail. 

“Hi, this is Emma Swan. This is  _ not  _ my Sheriff number, so I have no idea how you got this. Either way, I’m probably busy right now, so try turning it off and on again… and if that doesn’t work then call back later––”

The phone bleeped aggressively. 

“Miss Swan, pick up your phone, or I swear your lunchtime salad will have a relish of poison apples and ghost chillis. Although, that’s probably too high-class for you, because you eat like a child.” Regina growled and slammed the phone down.  _ Maybe she was just busy? _ After all, if there had been trouble at the Sheriff Station, Emma would have let her know. Right?

By 10am, the panic was beginning to set in – after all, she’d left about ten messages and radio silence wasn’t Emma’s style… Maybe something  _ had _ gone wrong at the Sheriff Station. Maybe she needed help. Regina gulped nervously and swigged down the last of her coffee, ignoring the fact that it scolded her throat. By the time she had reached the coat hanger, her heart was fluttering intensely; it was practically impossible to conceal her dread. 

By the time Regina had reached the Sheriff Station, her mind had run through every terrible scenario that could possibly have afflicted Emma – which was a lot, considering they lived in Storybrooke. Parking her car awkwardly across two spaces, Regina slammed through the glass door and sprinted up the steps, into the station. She flew through the double doors, down the corridor and then burst into the main office to find Emma eating through a donut, looking at her strangely. Emma, who was just sitting there, legs up on the desk. As though nothing was wrong.

She raised an eyebrow in Regina’s direction, frowning. 

“I just got your messages. Why the hell were you threatening me? …And why did you call me ‘babe’?”

Ignoring her, Regina exhaled her relief so intensely she sounded like a deflating hot air balloon. “Miss Swan! What did I say about checking your messages? I thought you were dead! I was  _ terrified _ !”

“I had no idea you cared,” Emma said, without a hint of sarcasm. Regina frowned at her grouchilly.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She put her hands on her hips in the way that she knew always made Emma shudder. “Have I…” she cocked her head, “offended you?”

“No, I–” She put her donut down on the desk.

Suddenly the Charmings burst in, sprinting towards their daughter to engulf her in, what looked like, a very suffocating hug. They looked at Regina awkwardly, then tried to avoid her gaze. Regina waved her hands around wildly. 

“ _ What _ ?” she hissed. “Have I offended Mr and Mrs Smarming, too?  _ What is up with everyone today _ ?”

“How  _ dare  _ you,” David boomed. “You waltz in here as though you own the place and then act dumb as to why we’re cautious around you!” All he would’ve needed was a sword to be fully in character… No one had talked to Regina like that for a long time.

A blank look crossed Regina’s face, which was quickly replaced with one of mild hurt. She was skilled at hiding her feelings, but this had taken her by surprise. Regina’s words came out uncharacteristically stammered. “I’m... sorry… I kind of thought we were, at least a  _ bit,  _ over it…” David glanced at Snow, wearing a look that was enough to reduce Regina to a quivering child. She had no idea the Charmings were still so upset with her. All she had wanted was to improve her relationship with Emma’s parents and, although she knew there would always be some touchy subjects, this was just plain hostile. Cheeks red, she didn’t know what else to do but get out of there as quickly as possible. 

But she couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye to Emma. 

Glancing at the Charmings awkwardly, Regina strutted towards Emma, lent down and kissed her casually on the forehead. Emma recoiled in surprise and jumped up onto her feet. 

“Woah! What the  _ hell _ , lady?” she exclaimed, eyes wide. “Regina, that was totally out of line!”

“Emma?” she breathed. 

“What  _ is _ this? Some sick, twisted plan to get your revenge?” Emma spat. Her fingers curled around the edge of her jacket as though she was attempting to keep them to herself. Regina remembered the first time they kissed – it had felt like that. Only, something told her, this time Emma was trying to prevent more murderous advances. Regina attempted to speak, but after only managing to splutter a few syllables, Emma picked up where she left off. “Well… I can tell you – it’s  _ not  _ going to work. We may share a son, but that is  _ all  _ you are ever getting. Do you understand me? I will  _ never  _ have feelings for you. Not  _ ever _ !”

For a cruel second Regina thought it had to be a trick – some dumb prank Henry came up with to get her back for the whipped cream incident… But unless Emma had been taking acting lessons, there was no way she could pull off the look that she had in her eyes at that moment. That bitterness. Hatred, even.

Regina’s lip trembled as she stepped away from the other woman, so slowly, the movement was almost imperceptible. “No,” Regina whispered. She raised her hands either side of her, as though it would block out the pain. “This is a trick… just a…” All she wanted was to look away, but she couldn’t bring herself to. A tear rolled down her cheek and splashed on her collarbone. Regina watched Emma’s eyes follow it in fascination, the cogs whirring in her head as she attempted to solve the mystery. Emma was a hard person to read, but Regina had her down to a tee. After all, they were meant to be in love. 

She took a deep breath and then wiped her eyes. 

“I promise you this, Emma,” she vowed. “I  _ will  _ break this curse – if it is the  _ last  _ thing I do.” And with that she waved her arms and vanished, leaving the room to a thick cloud of purple smoke and a lot of confused faces. 


	2. The Tea

_“I love it,” Emma grinned. She draped the necklace around her finger and examined it more closely. “There’s only one problem…” She glanced up at Regina mischievously and then threw herself on top of her so they both went tumbling onto the bed. Still bouncing slightly up and down, Emma entwined her toes in Regina’s and placed the gentlest of kisses on the tip of her nose. She could feel Regina’s stomach beneath her own, could smell the posh conditioner in her hair…_

_She traced her hand up Regina’s waist, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. Slowly, Emma stroked her left hand across Regina’s chest, pausing for a moment, before placing her palm down against her skin. The tips of her fingers traced Regina’s collarbone, while her palm lay flat against her chest. The steady thud of Regina’s heart beat through her skin, sending ripples up her arm. It was the most comforting feeling Emma could think of. That steady rhythm reminded her that they had a life together – that even after four years, every day she loved Regina more than the last._

_Regina caught Emma’s eye and pouted._

_“You still haven’t told me what the problem is…” she said._

_“Ah…” she cupped Regina’s cheeks in her hands and then planted a kiss on her lips. “It wasn’t an apple,” she grinned, shaking her head._

_“What?”_

_“It was a turnover. I know your whole thing is apples… but_ our _whole thing is turnovers.”_

_Regina grunted, then flipped Emma over onto her side. “Fine,” she said, snatching the pendant out of her hands._

_“Hey! I still love it!”_

_“No, it must be rectified,” Regina grinned. She wiggled her fingers over the pendant and suddenly the little cartoon Evil Queen’s apple was replaced with an apple turnover. “Now it’s perfect,” she snorted._

_Emma looked down at it and was overcome by emotions. It had to be the best present she had ever received – beating even the bug. Because it was so dumb, but it really_ meant _something. And because it was from Regina._

_Eyes sparkling, she embraced Regina like a sloth, and attacked her with kisses. Emma wished that this moment could–_

“Emma?”

Snow’s voice protruded into Emma’s dream like a needle taking blood. She groaned and woke up reluctantly. It was a weird dream, there was no denying it. 

“Are you alright, honey?” Snow frowned, as though she was on the edge of saying more. 

“I’m ok,” Emma lied. She stretched her arms into the air and smiled compellingly. “Really, I’m fine. Just a weird dream.” 

“Wanna talk about it?”

Emma shook her head. 

“Trust me, you don’t wanna hear about these types of dreams.”

Snow’s eyes widened. Emma shook her head hysterically, messy hair flying in all directions. 

“No! Not like… _that…_ ” Emma groaned, whacking the sofa pillow into her face. She peeked out from under it, carefully. “For a Disney Princess you’re really quite dirty minded, you know that?” Her mother’s eyes twinkled and she cast her an innocent smile.

“I have no idea what you are talking about. Besides, you’re a Disney Princess, too.”

“ _Snow White’s Daughter_ didn’t quite pass through development,” Emma said dryly. “But if the feature film ever turns up on Netflix, we should make a meal of it.”

Snow hummed. “Maybe ask Henry to write it for you. He’s getting quite good at writing narrative in my classes.”

“Oh? What’s he been writing?” Emma asked. Shrugging, Snow turned away to fill up the kettle. “Come on, you can’t say something like that and then not tell me.”

Snow scratched her coal hair and cast her daughter a suspicious look. “He’s been writing a lot of stories about you and Regina.”

Emma opened her mouth and then closed it again. “I mean, is that odd?” She shrugged nonchalantly, but inside she was feeling far from it. “I mean, he’s got two moms – I’d rather he wrote about both of us than picking a favourite.”

Snow cast her a look that could kill. “Yes. Well, let’s hope he never does that.” She smiled sweetly into her cup. “But I think you’re missing my point.” 

Emma sighed patiently as Snow took her time before elaborating. She took a steady sip of her tea, plonked herself into a highchair at the kitchen top and then she was ready. “Henry has been writing a lot of _romantic_ stories about you and Regina.” 

Emma almost spat out her tea. 

“He’s like– 15!” she squawked. She goggled her Mom intensely. “I’d understand if he was a kid… but, like...” Emma had a lot more to say about the matter, but she was too flustered to articulate it. 

“Well, in fairness, I can’t be totally _completely_ sure they’re all about you two.” She bobbed her head from left to right as though trying to get water out of her ears. 

“Now I’m confused.”

“Well, he writes the stories using different names, probably to stop the other boys from teasing him. But the main character is a teenage boy with two moms, one of whom is a detective and the other is a powerful magician, _so_ …”

“So, there’s no way it’s _not_ based on personal experience.” It wasn’t really a question, so Snow didn’t answer it. Emma shook her head.

For some reason she _really_ wanted to read those stories. Maybe it was just curiosity… or maybe it was something else; after all, she had been having some strange dreams since that day at the Sheriff Station–– 

–Snipping the thought at its root, she decided it was just curiosity and left it at that. 

“Speaking of Regina, we never talked about the other day,” Snow prompted, seemingly reading her mind. 

“Yeah, that was weird. I’ve known Regina to be a lot of things… but affectionate is not one of them.” She didn’t really want to talk about it. Even thinking about it made her feel weird. The way Regina has kissed her on the forehead… it had been so natural. Too natural. Looking up, Emma expected her Mom to agree with her, but Snow was looking off into the distance, lost in thought. 

“I’m not sure,” she said. Her eyes closed gently for a second, battling with the tangerine light that had spilled through a crack in the blinds. “I knew Regina, a long time ago, when her heart was so full of love that everyone close to her couldn’t help but want to get even closer. And the people _she_ loved… she loved them deeper and more passionately than anyone I’ve ever known.” Snow’s eyes misted slightly and she lent back on her chair. “And that’s why she fell so much farther…” she trailed off, blinking rapidly. 

Emma realised she had been holding her breath. She released it slowly before breaking the silence. “That was pretty intense,” she breathed.

Snow's eyebrows darted to the top of her head like two windscreen wipers. “Sorry,” she squeaked, taking a quick sip of tea to distract from the flush in her cheeks. She had lost herself in the memories. It was amazing how easily that happened these days.

Emma glanced at her watch. She needed to get to work, but it was times like these that she finally understood why people still needed their parents into adulthood. She considered telling Snow about her dream. But she was late already and, really, what good would it do? Instead, she slung her arms into a tan leather jacket, offering a half-smile in her Mom’s direction. “I better get going.” Snow looked disappointed. “Although, I doubt I’ll get up to much,” Emma reassured her. “Peace in Storybrooke is so _boring_ . What I wouldn’t give for a little bit of drama that _didn’t_ involve me.”

“Mmm,” Snow said, cocking her head to the side. She took a final sip of tea before draining the rest down the sink. “Be careful what you wish for.”

* * *

Regina was pacing. It was unnatural to her. But the conversation with Emma at the Sheriff’s Station had her thoughts in a tangle, and pacing gave her the space to breathe. She ran Emma’s words over and over in her head until they hurt. That wasn’t uncommon. In fact, the intensity of Regina’s thoughts had been what had got her into magic – it was a way of expressing herself, releasing the tension… But that usually involved someone’s heart disintegrating in her hand, so that wasn’t an option any more. 

_We may share a son…. I will_ never _have feelings for you._

Gritting her teeth, she watched as the words dangled in front of her like bait on a fishing line. She clenched her fists, trying to contain the magic that was bubbling in her palms. She had been through this. She knew what to do. But it didn’t do anything to stop the thoughts coming. Rolling in from every angle. Sometimes Regina found her thoughts so straining, she was worried her head would split open and they would spill out of her, consuming everything around. But thoughts were just thoughts, she reminded herself. Magic or no magic. 

“Breathe,” she breathed. Some of the angst ebbed away, so she unclenched her fists. _See_ , she thought to herself, _not so bad after all_. But it didn’t help that the voice in her head was Emma’s. 

  
Suddenly a thought popped into her head that _wasn’t_ shrouded in darkness. She stopped pacing. “Henry,” she grinned, her eyes glinting marvellously. “He’s _always_ awake. He’ll know what to do.”


	3. Jimmy Melon

Henry Mills put his head down and sprinted towards the nearest escape. It was a fire escape, but people used it all the time (much to the head teacher’s begrudgement). Speeding down the corridor, he reached the door, pushed his full weight into it and it popped open like a cork from a bottle. And then he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. 

The fire alarm.  _ Shit _ .

A hand grabbed the ruff of his shirt (making sure to also grab a small amount of skin and a few hairs), yanking him backwards. Henry hissed. 

“What the hell are you doing, dickwad?” Jimmy Melon grunted lazily. He was a stereotypical jock: tall, well-built, with no future except for washing dishes at a road-side diner and maybe a one-time cover picture on some skanky pop magazine. Henry frowned at himself, wondering when he had become so cynical. Perhaps since he’d become acquainted with Jimmy. 

Jimmy was a year older than Henry and had made it his mission to make Henry’s life hell since fifth grade, when Emma had broken the curse. He couldn’t know for sure, but Henry had heard stories that Jimmy got on a lot better with his adoptive ‘cursed’ family than with his real one and the transition back to normality had been more of a downward spiral. 

Henry turned to face Jimmy, turning scarlet with anger. The fire alarm blazed in his ears.

“I was running away from your ugly face,” he retorted before he could stop himself. 

And that’s how he ended up in the principal’s office. 

“So, I heard you pulled the fire alarm, Mr Mills?” Mrs Heathcoat, the Principal, sighed. 

Henry shook his head sheepishly.

“It was an accident, Miss,” he started. “I tried to leave out of the fire escape – the one that is usually disconnected…” he trailed off. Mrs Heathcoat sighed again. Henry knew she was fond of him, but that didn’t change the fact that he always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

“And, Jimmy?” This time her tone was harsher. She looked at the other boy over her glasses.

“Henry punched me!” he hissed, flailing his arms, before deftly cradling his spotless nose. 

It was true, Henry had tried to punch Jimmy. But Jimmy had dodged him before any real damage could be done.  _ Henry _ on the other hand, was pretty sure he had a broken collar bone; Jimmy had one hell of a right hook. 

“I’ll have to call your parents,” the teacher grumbled, turning slightly pale as she glanced in Henry’s direction. Henry wondered which of his moms was more intimidating, the Saviour, or the Evil Queen… It was definitely a tough one. The Principal must have caught the smug look on Henry’s face, because she raised an eyebrow. “And it’ll be detention for both of you. I don’t tolerate violence in this school.”

The boys both groaned and were dismissed. Henry made a particular effort to catch Jimmy’s eye as they left the room, winking surreptitiously. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mrs Heathcoat’s eyes twinkle, and wondered whether she had caught that too. 

* * *

Henry was back late from school, but Regina was too distracted by his arrival to pay it much attention. 

“Henry!” she grinned, running up to the door as though she were the minor. Her heels clonked on the ground heavily. 

Henry, who was cradling his arm slightly, looked up at her with distracted eyes. 

“You seem happy,” he grumbled, kicking his shoes off aggressively. 

“You…  _ don’t _ .” The smile fell off her face immediately. “Henry, what happened?”

“It’s nothing,” he growled, refusing to look her in the eye. “I just…  _ hate  _ it here!” He flew up the stairs, covering his face to hide the embarrassed tears that were now streaming down in floods. 

“Henry,” Regina cooed, her heart sinking like a stone. Every other problem vanished when Henry was upset. She followed him up the stairs cautiously to find him perched on the edge of his bed. “Please tell me what happened, honey. Whatever it is, I promise I won’t be angry.”

Henry interlaced his hands. He looked up at his mom and then back down again. 

“I got detention… and you or Emma has to go in for a school meeting.”

“What? Why?” Regina gasped. Henry never got into trouble – he just wasn’t that kind of kid. 

“I… I got into a fight with one of the kids at school…” He glanced at her sheepishly. She could’ve sworn there was the faint outline of a smile on his face. “And I accidentally pulled the fire alarm.”

Regina raised her eyebrows at him, but wasn’t fooling anyone. It was the funniest thing she’d heard all day. Although, she wasn't pleased about the fight. 

“Who’s the boy you got into a fight with? Was he giving you trouble?” Regina could tell he was appreciative of the fact that she automatically took his side. 

“He’s called Jimmy Melon–” Henry started. Regina cut him off with a snort and Henry looked up at her cheekily. “Mom, you can’t laugh at his name,” he said, this time breaking out into a full smile. “You gave it to him!” Regina clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to cover up the cackles.

“I had so much fun coming up with those names,” she snorted, remembering how she’d whispered each one into a huge cauldron, trying not to laugh and ruin the spell. She grinned and Henry rolled his eyes, but at least he was cheerier. “Sorry, sorry! Go on.”

“Short version is: he doesn’t like me very much,” Henry sighed. 

Regina looked at the ground guiltily. “Is it because of me?”

“Actually, no.” Henry pulled a face. “He doesn’t like my other mom, because she  _ broke  _ the curse. And he doesn’t like me because I helped her.”

At the mention of Emma, Regina fidgeted awkwardly. Her heart sunk a bit lower, knowing Henry would have given something away by now had he been awake. 

“How long has he been bullying you?” Regina asked casually. 

“Since fifth grade–” Henry stopped himself, closing his eyes slightly. He had fallen into the trap and he knew it. “Please don’t say anything, Mom. No good will come of it. It’ll probably just make things worse.”

Regina nodded – she understood. Kids would be kids, but it didn’t change the fact that she wanted to rip Jimmy Melon’s throat out.

* * *

Emma was thinking about Regina until the moment she got into work. The way the tears had puddled in her collar bone. The oath she had made to ‘break the curse’, whatever that meant. Maybe all that time alone had knocked something loose… but who was Emma kidding? Regina had been mad the second she set about burning villages and poisoning apples. So, a few tears and a fake oath shouldn’t be as surprising as they were… but Emma knew when people were lying. And Regina at least  _ thought  _ she was telling the truth. 

Pulling up outside a sodden old barn, Emma jumped out of the car. She took long strides towards Red, her assistant, who had positioned herself in an unknowingly sexy pose, staring up at the rotting slant of panels, which seemed as though they could collapse on her at any moment. She looked uneasy. 

Rain drizzled so thinly it could have been mist and an ominous sky of storm clouds loomed overhead like a warning. 

“So, what’s the story?” Emma asked, stony faced. She had come to expect very little from these call-outs, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be trouble.

“It was…” Red shook her head, preparing herself. “A little boy called it in. He said… he said there was a demon in the barn.”

A frown flickered across Emma’s face faster than a shadow on the highway. “A demon? Have you gone in?”

“No,” Red said quickly. “I thought… it was better to wait for you this time.” The agitation was clear in her voice. Emma couldn’t help but catch it. A bad feeling stabbed in her gut and for some reason the first person she thought about was Regina, standing at the door with Henry, waiting for her to come home. Emma shook the thought away. Ridiculous. She had just been thinking too much. 

“Come on then.” She smiled at Red reassuringly, before taking off towards the barn. The door approached faster than Emma would have wished. It creaked open, slowly. They crept into the darkness, their feet shuffling on the thin layer of straw that covered the ground. 

A gust of wind threw the door shut behind them; they spun, shocked. Hinges complained irritably as the door rattled and shook. And then it was back to the darkness. Emma grappled for the torch at her belt, but couldn’t reach it before–

Emma whirled towards the sound of the scream. 

“ _ Red _ ?” she exclaimed, blind. 

There was a pause and then Red let out a small sob. Emma prodded at the tube of metal between her fingers, exhaling slowly as she found Red in the torchlight’s thin beam. Red was pointing at something. Something mangled and bloody, that’s head had been ripped clean off and now lay metres away from its counterpart. Eyes still open. 

Dark, thick blood dried into the hay, while the irrefutable smell of death hung around them, stronger than perfume. She stared at it for a second, listening to Red’s sobs. And then, taking Red by the arm, she led them both out of the barn. 

* * *

_ A new day.  _

_ Try not to get wedgied. Try not to get punched in the face. _

Henry held his chin up, forcing himself to act as though nothing was wrong; as though he wasn’t terrified about going back into school. He strolled the halls quickly, but not too quickly, looking around as he did so to make sure there was no danger. 

“The wraith was less scary than this,” he muttered under his breath, realising his own wit was making him smile for no reason. If nothing else he had been blessed with the bettering ability of being able to cheer himself up. Rounding a corner, Henry bumped into the one person he was desperately trying to avoid: Jimmy. And to make matters worse, he was surrounded by an entire pack of his ugly (but actually irritatingly attractive) jock friends. The five other boys and Jimmy himself were all kitted out in Storybrooke ‘Banshees’ basketball sweaters.  _ How much more unremarkable could you get? _ Henry thought with a minor scowl.  _ Just like in a book– oh, wait.  _ Henry smiled to himself again; this time Jimmy noticed. His deep-cut eyes narrowed on him as he approached, like a cheetah locking in on its prey. Jimmy opened his mouth to say something but then changed his mind, nodding at Henry amicably. 

“What, cat-got-your-tongue?” Henry frowned, not quite knowing why he was picking a fight when he had got off so easy. The other basketball players stopped their conversations to stare at him. But still, Jimmy said nothing. Suddenly Henry felt very naked. He looked down just to check that he wasn’t naked. Nope. Clothes were all there. One of the players strutted up to him, held out a finger and poked him in the chest. Henry swayed backwards slightly from the force of it. Wow, basketball players really  _ did _ have strong hands. 

Just as Jock Bigfinger (as Henry had dubbed him) was about to say something, Jimmy tapped his friend on the shoulder and shook his head. He opened his mouth to explain, and that’s the only reason Henry was able to see what he desperately wished he could unsee. That there was nothing there; just a gaping hole where Jimmy’s tongue should have been. 


End file.
